You can learn a lot about garden design by just visiting them, particularly gardens that have been created by one of the UK’s most successful family of plantsmen.

Garden lovers have been flocking to Alan Bloom’s Bressingham to see his garden The Dell for years [PH]

Garden lovers have been flocking to Alan Bloom’s Bressingham to see his six-acre garden The Dell for years.

But from February 1 the Winter Garden created by Adrian Bloom opens to the public until the end of March, and visitors can also see the splendidly-named Foggy Bottom.

Adrian now runs the 350-acre estate that his late father built up near Diss, in Norfolk.

In the summer it has family attractions such as a steam railway and fairground rides that attract more than 60,000 visitors a year.

But go now and you will find the estate much quieter – there are no train rides or carousels open – and you can enjoy the clever combination of plants in the Winter Garden that look good from autumn through to spring, while Foggy Bottom is renowned for its year-round interest.

Adrian started work on Foggy Bottom with his wife Rosemary in 1967, while the Winter Garden is now a mature 10 years old.

It has only been open to the public in the past few years, and features the fiery stemmed Cornus Midwinter Fire, supported by colourful conifers, hellebores, spring bulbs, trees and shrubs with exceptional bark and flowering perennials.